Commuters coming into Manhattan on the Metro-North Hudson Line might have seen Joseph Cavalieri's work in the Philipse Manor station. Known for his creative stained glass, Cavalieri currently has multiple pieces on display at Think Coffee (map) on the corner of Bowery and Bleeker until Feb 19. The installation includes Cavalieri's unusual Simpson's Missing Episode series, the Muscle Man series, and "a few surprises."Reached via Facebook, NYC The Blog asked Joseph, a finalist for the the 4th International Arte Laguna Prize, about his inspiration for the Muscle Man series. The works are "tributes," he said, "to the muscle men featured on the covers of [bodybuilding] magazines from the 1940s through the 1960," such as Robert Roy seen in the work at right.
Joseph Cavalieri:
"Both "ABnyC " and "Caged Man" are tributes to the muscle men featured on the covers of magazines from the 1940s through the 1960s.Iron Man and Muscle Power magazines showcased perfect proportioned, pre-steroid bodies from a more innocent time. Images of superstars of that time like Boyer Coe, George Greenwood and Robert Roy are found on covers, and within the pages in many issues. It seemed like a much smaller world than the professional bodybuilders of today.
The magazines are fading. In a deserving tribute to this era I permanently silk screened these hunks directly onto the stained glass, and place them into a setting normally reserved for religious figures. My challenge in glass is to take it out of the church and into peoples homes. My challenge with both of these panels was to create "pop" stained glass and to see how detailed I could paint the border pattern. What could be more opposite than religion, psychedelic patterns and muscle men? But I feel they work perfectly here.
I would love to know if these men are still with us and what they feel about my tribute."
[Joseph Cavalieri]
The show at Think Coffee continues to Feb. 19, 2010.
Related: Stained Glass Illustrates ‘Simpsons’ [Brookyn Daily Eagle]
(Glass featured: Top right: THE GOOD SHIP MÉNAGE À TROIS, Middle,Bottom: CAGED MAN)
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